Halloween Party Recipes

YAY it’s almost Halloween!

Probably one of my favorite holidays to celebrate next to Christmas because not only is the weather simply perfect, but it comes complete with crazy costumes, fun decorations and a good excuse to watch endless amounts of scary movies! Normally I’m not the biggest fan of horror movies, but there is just something about Halloween that doesn’t feel right unless you have yourself a marathon fright fest. Michael Myers anyone?? This year we are throwing a small party for just our closest friends and their kids so I thought I’d share my favorite Halloween party recipes as well as a yummy punch (adult-friendly of course) that always keeps the party going!

I must say one of my favorite things about Halloween is decorating my whole house. It’s so fun to get creative and it really is possible to decorate on a budget! Try making your own decorations using a cheap black table runner. I ripped apart numerous holes and hung it on the wall along with cobwebs, orange streamers and of course placed little spiders everywhere to creep people out. I also found inexpensive green spotlights that I use going up the stairs which illuminate the stairwell and really make the cobwebs look extra creepy! It doesn’t take a lot of money to throw a decent party – just some creativity, a lot of patience and TAPE!

And let’s be serious folks, a Halloween party isn’t a true party without festive food. Now let me warn you, the goodies I make each year are not necessarily healthy and I tend to use large amounts of chocolate, but sometimes it’s okay to splurge, especially when serving a lot of people! One of the recipes I always receive the most compliments on are these Witch’s Fingers, which are basically sugar cookies shaped into creepy fingers, colored with green food coloring and topped with blanched almonds. They are surprisingly eeeeeeasy to make and have become a staple at every Halloween party I throw or am a guest to!

A huge thank you to Simply So Good for the inspiration behind this recipe!

The next recipe I love to make that will literally be gone in three seconds flat (yeah you think I’m kidding…) is my Pumpkin Cheese Ball. For this I use a basic cheese ball recipe that I make all the time for parties from Allrecipes, but I like to do a fun spin on it using the stem off a large bell pepper for the “pumpkin” topper! Simply secure it using two toothpicks, chill overnight and serve with your favorite crackers – voila! I promise your friends will love it and will be impressed at the same time.

This appetizer would be perfect for Thanksgiving as well or any Fall party for that matter! Double (or triple) the recipe if you’d like a bigger pumpkin – I may do that next time since this cheese ball doesn’t stay around for very long!

Along with the above recipes, I also make Chocolate Bones using pretzel sticks, mini marshmallows and white chocolate as well as Mini Mummy Dogs using crescent rolls and mini smoked sausages. Mmmmmmm. Caution: These go pretty fast as well, so make a lot if throwing a big party!

For the chocolate bones – all you do is secure a marshmallow on each end of the pretzel, making sure not to smush it in the process, then carefully dip it into the melted white chocolate allowing them to harden. Super easy and they sure make great table treats!

I got the idea for the mini mummy dogs after seeing so many large hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and thought these would make fun appetizers! Using a pizza cutter, simply slice the crescent dough into thin strips. Then pat the mini sausages with a paper towel so that they are dry and wrap the strips of dough around them, making sure to pinch the dough on the end so they’ll stay secure. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and place wrapped mummy dogs on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and enjoy! Feel free to give them little eyes using ketchup or mustard.

Here’s another recipe I love to make for Halloween parties – Monster Munch! I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs A Spicy Perspective and it’s basically just chocolate covered popcorn adorned in sprinkles and mixed with all my favorite types of Halloween candy such as M&Ms, candy corns and candy pumpkins. Doesn’t get much better than that, huh? Not only is this insanely delicious and highly addictive (there I at least warned ya), but it always looks so pretty on the table when serving to guests! I tend to be kind of OCD when it comes to displaying food and decorating tables so this is something I love to have out for Halloween!

Now on to the best part – BOOZE!

An adult Halloween party is certainly never complete without a spooky cocktail and one of my favorites is this Blood Punch that I literally have to keep making throughout the night because it goes so fast! It’s crazy easy to throw together and even though I tend to triple this recipe during parties, it really does make a ton in one single batch. Guess that speaks volumes as to my friends’ drinking abilities….hmmm. Anyway back to the booze, I also like to throw in a few spiders or eyeballs to keep the theme going, then just add a bunch of ice and you’re ready to serve!

Well there ya go! Here are all my favorite go-to Halloween party recipes that never fail when having lots of people over. Hope everyone has a fun and SAFE Halloween!!